When exactly did he fall off the top? I don't recall any injuries or nothing. One minute he's the WWF champion and what happened then? He never actually lost the belt right, but he lost the match to win the belts and there's were things seemed to go down-hill.

Why has the proverbial Golden Boy lost his luster? Was he really losing his momentum? Doesn't he still get a hell of a reaction? Once a guy starts to get stale, then he should be brought to a lower lever. And bring him back when everybody misses him.

Now he's like already on the back burner, the 'What' thing is pretty damn stale. But that's the fans fault for alway sayin it. Maybe there is a plan to get him the title and his return to SMACKDOWN could be a ratings booster.But I doubt it; it was unlikely that anyone could beat a heel HHH, much less a face HHH, it kinda sucks. Does anyone see a method to this madness or is Austin 3:16 just in a hell of a funk?

Doesn't really make sense, does it?Austin still is more of a draw than anyone else on the roster, and the only guy who can rival his drawing power (Rocky) is busy with movies and on a different show.Granted, Austin's in the "top" angle on Raw, but it still feels like he's lost in the shuffle. I have a theory, but there's been enough talk of that in different threads.I'll just say that it's sad when business sense is overrided by nepitism and cronyism.What?

You want to know what happened to Stone Cold? What happened? To Stone Cold? I said what happened to Stone Cold? You want to know why Stone Cold's not on the top anymore? Why he doesn't have the belt? Why he's gold-less? Why he's not the WWF Champion? I'm flabbergasted-- stunned-- confused-- shocked-- speechless.

That first paragraph was to help prove a point. The reason Stone Cold's not on top anymore is partly because of the whole “What?” thing. You think the above paragraph was annoying? Austin does something similar about three or four times every single damn interview he cuts.

You say it's the fan's fault for always saying it, but I disagree. Austin's interview style has been altered to cater to the fans saying it, and it's clear in all the interviews he's been doing. He makes list after list after list, pausing after every word on occasion so that the fans can say it. If he actually said something important for once, perhaps the fans would SHUT THE HELL UP for a minute and actually listen to what he has to say. But he seems content to let the fans “WHAT?” their heads off every chance they get, so really whose fault is it?

Hell... in an interview on WWF.com, Austin thought it was damn funny when the fans actually chanted “What?” during the National Anthem. That Austin would actually encourage that kind of behavior is not borderline ridiculous to me-- it's way south-of-the-border ridiculous, and disrespectful.

But no, the problem doesn't lie with the fans-- it lies with Austin himself. The “What?” chants would have died out a long time ago if Austin had stopped encouraging them. But they haven't, and he hasn't. As a result, his interview quality has gone way down, and the “What?” chants have carried over into other interviews, hurting a lot of other people. And because Austin has become complacent in this way, it's carried over into his matches. So the quality of his interviews and the quality of his matches have both been in decline. And quite frankly, he's pissing me off, and I wish he would stay the hell off of my television screen. If he wins the title, I'll be even less likely to watch SmackDown than I already am-- which is saying something, because I tend to work on Thursday nights.

That 1st paragraph is pretty damn good. So instead of DIScouraging it, he is ENcouraging it. That's true, he could go against it and be heel cuz the people will still do it; or he could go with the flow.

Remember the Rock's 'This ain't sing-along-with-the-champ' thing? Didn't make a damn bit of difference. Because the people still would talk with him. The people have their own mind.

What about when Angle, who I don't get to see anymore, tried to get the people to say what he wanted, true it wasn't supposed to work, but if the fans wanted to, they would have done.

You have a point though, Austin could be a victim of his own foolishness cuz he couldn't find nothing better to say than 'What'. And I like Angle's quote at the bottom about Canadian rockstars. I just wish I coulda heard him say it.

i don't think he fell from the top. just like with the rock, he's got so much going for him, he doesn't need the belt to keep heat on him...hell, he's not on SD and they chant what.

with HHH vs HHH for the title and SCSA vs UT for #1, it's looking like SCSA is heading for another title match.

The WWF has an interesting set of combos, for the world title match coming up, that we can can ponder:

HHH vs SCSA? [when the power trip collides!HHH vs UT? [been there, done that]Hulk vs UT? [the taker has a win over hulkster]Hulk vs SCSA? [the best champ of the late 80's vs the best champ of the late 90's]

3 out of the 4 combos look exciting to me...

side note: i'm surprised that the WWF is not playing up hogans run at the top at both the WWF and WCW...here's a backlash promo that i've just hought up:

"Hogan, he's after Triple H's Unified title. Hogan has won the WWF title and WCW tiles on seperate occasions, but has never held them together like Triple H. Can Hogan take the title that will proclaim him the king of all wrestling, or will the current king stike him down where he stands? Find out this sunday at BACKLASH!!!!"

There's probably little to no chance that Austin would ever work Hogan. I can't fathom that Austin has forgotten the way he left WCW. Of all those matches I'd be most interested in Austin vs. the H, from a workrate standpoint and Taker vs. the Hulkster from a markout standpoint.Whee.

Let me get this straight...Austin's not on top anymore because he does what the fans want him to do, even though it's stale. That's right, this thing that practically everyone likes(except for a bunch of smarks) is stale. Ok, I have one more question, what? If the fans who are paying money to go to these shows and buy their merchandise love something so much, how is it stale? What? I said what makes it stale? Because you don't like it? Because Scott Keith doesn't like? Because CRZ doesn't print it everytime it's said by the fans? I'm confused here. Someone help me out and explain to me why you know better than Austin and the WWF. Thanks...

Originally posted by LeechOfTheNightLet me get this straight...Austin's not on top anymore because he does what the fans want him to do, even though it's stale. That's right, this thing that practically everyone likes(except for a bunch of smarks) is stale. Ok, I have one more question, what? If the fans who are paying money to go to these shows and buy their merchandise love something so much, how is it stale? What? I said what makes it stale? Because you don't like it? Because Scott Keith doesn't like? Because CRZ doesn't print it everytime it's said by the fans? I'm confused here. Someone help me out and explain to me why you know better than Austin and the WWF. Thanks...

EXACTLY what I think everytime the "What?" issue is brought up...nicely said.

I just can't stand the "what?" phenomenon because it lets SCSA cut half-ass promos and ruins EVERYONE elses promos. This is a case where the mainstream audience really doesn't know what's good for them. They miss out on storyline details and ruin any kind of drama/intesity when they do that shit. I can deal with "You Suck" and "Asshole" chants because they go away. How many times now has a heel's promo been made to sound like shit, because for 20 minutes he either has to endure this crap, or talk without taking any breaks?

Not only that, but Stone Cold's promos have dropped SIGNIFICANTLY in quality since "what?" got big. Sure, he had catchphrases he would work in, but he managed to convey anger, humor, and intensity in nearly every promo. Now he just sounds disinterested. What? Apathetic. What? Bored. What? Like he doesn't care. What? I said, like he doesn't care. WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? WHAT?

I think my watch is telling me SCSA needs to change his promo style, or UT needs keep emphasising that the "what monkeys" in the crowd sleep with family.

Since when has quality been the WWF's #1 concern when it came to booking, character development or matches? They shovel out what the largest number of fans will eat up. Right now, "What" is the swill of choice.

Besides, "What" has added a new dimension to Undertaker's interaction with the fans. Now he can call them subhuman, idiotic pieces of shit and truly mean it from the bottom of his heart!

Don't the writers come up with most of the interviews? I don't really like the "What?" phenomenon either, but I think if it were really causing all those problems they'd tell Austin to quit encouraging it.

I think the big problem is that there's really only room for two guys at the top of the card. He's probably in one of the worst spots you can be in--he's being squeezed out of the main event, but he's too big for the mid-card, so what do you do with him?

Doesn't anyone stop to think that McMahon may be *telling* Austin to allow for "What?" in his promos because the mainstream fans love it and the casual fans haven't seen that much of it until recently and think it's funny? To me Austin would probably just as well get rid of it, he does seem bored by it. But it's still catchy, so he is told to still do it. It will probably slow down after Backlash, but I don't think it is all Austin's fault as everyone seems to be assuming. Remember, we're talking about Vince McMahon--do you really think he would allow it to go on if he really didn't want it and didn't think it was good for his company?

Also, keep in mind that this is probably still the first go around for all of these venues since the "What" started, and you are still seeing the foam what sign in the crowd, which means they are moving the merchandise still...

I think Austin's lack of gold is less due to the fact that he uses "What?" all the time and more due to the fact that Austin has exhausted his usefulness. Think about all the top card guys Austin hasn't worked with? Exactly, he's worked with all of them except for one, Hollywood Hogan and Austin is being a little baby by refusing to work a huge money feud with him. Sure, Austin got screwed over by Hogan's influence in WCW, but the fact is that Hogan most likely would have to job for Austin and there is no way the fans would turn on Austin like they did Rock. Austin has no one to play with and he refuses to job, so what is left for the WWF to do? Stick him where the sun don't shine. Find a good, fresh heel for Austin to tangle with and maybe he'd be on top again. Then again, the alternate reason he's not on top is because Vince has a hard-on for HHH.

Originally posted by rikidozanHHH vs SCSA? [when the power trip collides!HHH vs UT? [been there, done that]Hulk vs UT? [the taker has a win over hulkster]Hulk vs SCSA? [the best champ of the late 80's vs the best champ of the late 90's]

So Triple H/Taker is played out already, but Triple H/Austin is fresh?

Austin's biggest problem is his refusal/inability to adapt with the changes that come with the world of professional wrestling.

Does anybody else think it'd be interesting to have Austin go over 'Taker at Backlash, and Hogan go over HHH? That'd set up Austin/Hogan, with the added fun of "Austin's going for the WWF strap, again" and "holy crap, Hogan's actually got the WWF title again?"

Now, if Foley's 1st book can be believed, back around 1994, WCW booker Ric Flair was grooming Austin to be his next big feud...until Turner's checkbook brought in Hogan and the big WWF stars from the mid-80's.

Then came Austin's falling out with Bischoff, the ECW run, and finally his WWF career (I think?)

So if Austin and Hogan WERE to square off, this time under the New York umbrella...well, there wouldn't be any shooting or anything in the match, but it's another one of those "never thought I'd see it" matchups...at least until Hogan's faced every currently-big WWF name.

Of course, I'm still hoping for a Hogan beatdown of Rocky and re-joining the nWo, but that's my inner mark speaking. Quiet, you!

OK, so maybe there could be an Austin/Hogan feud on the horizon. Even if they've had their differences in the past it doesn't matter. Cuz just like the 'What' thing, it's just good for business. Vince wouldn't let past issues be a factor.

But for some reason, I don't think HHH is gonna be losing the belt anytime soon. Call me crazy, but Hogan really doesn't have a chance in hell. It'd be nice to have a new champion and all but I don't see it happening.

If HHH loses the belt for more than the span of time between any 2 PPV's between now and Survivor Series I will be immensely surprised. He may give it up in some sort of quickie switch at some point, like the Angle title reign last fall, or the one day Kane title reign, but I think he's going to have a stranglehold on the belt between now and fall/winter. And I think he in some way or another ends up at next WM against Austin for the title, since that's really their last huge feud that's never played out on the WM stage, and I doubt Hogan will have a year in this run of his.

"Of course, I'm still hoping for a Hogan beatdown of Rocky and re-joining the nWo, but that's my inner mark speaking. Quiet, you!"

What? McMahon actually do something cool like that? Naaaah...

Personally, I wouldn't put it past the WWF to have Hogan win the title on Sunday and set-up either a Hogan-Rock feud or a Hogan-Austin feud, and then have Hogan "pass the torch" to one of them (probably the Rock). I don't care who HHH is married to, hopefully the top brass is telling him that the fans aren't reacting to him anymore, that he represents too much of an older D-Generation X era of the WWF, and needs to step aside now for Rock or Austin to continue their legacies.